Actuation device, especially on a rapid-action reception coupling

ABSTRACT

The aim of the invention is to achieve secure and simple handling of an activation device, especially on a rapid-action reception coupling for transferring gas-liquids and/or liquids—liquids or on valves comprising a tubular housing ( 11, 29 ) and a slide ( 41 ), which is mounted in such a way that it is displaceable in relation to the housing. Said slide is connected to a lever mechanism ( 42 ), To this end, the invention provides that the lever mechanism ( 42 ) is positioned in a sliding ring ( 40 ), which is mounted in such a way that it is displaceable in relation to the housing ( 11, 29 ).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an actuation device, in particular on arapid-action reception coupling for transferring gas-liquids and/orliquid-liquids.

2. Description of the Related Art

Such rapid-action reception couplings should enable a secure and rapidconnectivity for transferring a fluid from a pressure source, from arefill bottle, for example. Of particular importance here is the simple,trouble-free operability of the rapid-action reception coupling, wherebytrouble-free handling is guaranteed, even in unfavourable conditionssuch as dangerous fluids or at high connection pressures.

Such a rapid-action reception coupling is described in WO 98/04866 bythe applicant, wherein the rapid-action reception coupling has a housingwith a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet, and several valves are providedto ensure secure sealing of the rapid-action reception coupling to thepoint where the entire connection is realised. At the same time thesevalves are switched in a specific preset sequence after the rapid-actionreception coupling is joined, whereby the outlet valve is first openedby sliding the rapid-action reception coupling onto a connection nipple,after which the collet chucks are closed and finally the inlet valve isopened by moving a control lever as actuation device. The control leveris hereby engaged by way of an eccentric shaft with the sliding sleevefor impacting of the collet chucks, and with a central sealing piston,which also releases the fluid inlet after the plug-in coupling has beensuccessfully attached.

Although this effectively creates a secure connection, the structure ofthis coupling is still relatively expensive on account of the largenumber of components required. In addition, handling is relativelycomplicated, since, in addition to sliding on the coupling, the controllever has to be actuated, effectively eliminating the option ofsingle-handed operation.

WO A 93/20378 of the applicant also discloses a rapid-action receptioncoupling, in particular for filling gas bottles, whereby a rapid-actionreception device in the form of collet chucks with an engagement profileis provided in the vicinity of the outlet. Also described here is ahollow sealing piston slidably displaceable in the coupling housing,which is connected by way of an actuation device for closing or openingthe collet chucks attached to a sliding sleeve. The actuation devicealso needs to be operated separately here, in the form of a lever, suchthat handling of this rapid-action connection is likewise capable ofimprovement.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to produce anactuation device, in particular a rapid-action reception coupling of thetype initially outlined or on valves, which enables secure andespecially simple handling with a simple structure.

This task is solved by an actuation device, in particular on arapid-action reception coupling, according to the characteristics ofclaim 1. Preferred developments of the invention are the object of thesub-claims.

The proposed actuation device is distinguished by a minimal number ofcomponents, simple manufacturing and particularly simple operation,which is additionally especially secure. In particular for the preferredembodiment for filling gas tanks with gases such as propane or naturalgas is gas is hereby prevented from escaping as the rapid-actionreception coupling is being attached or uncoupled. This is particularlyimportant for environmental pollution reasons, since with receptioncouplings currently in use a considerable amount of gas, which islocated in the hose between the refill gas bottle and the receptioncoupling and which can escape during the coupling or decoupling action,is still lost with each filling procedure.

It is pointed out here that the proposed actuation device, in particularon a rapid-action reception coupling, is suited to different types ofconnection, but also only for switching valves. Profile forms such asouter or inner threads, undercuts or beads can also be provided toattach the coupling to the connection nipple, whereby the oppositecollet chuck form is configured accordingly. The lever mechanismdisplaceable with the actuation device hereby enables secure locking ofthe collet chucks or similar locking elements. Of particularsignificance is the realisation of the actuation device, in particularon a rapid-action reception coupling, by means of an outer sliding ring,enabling fast and safe single-handed operation of the rapid-actionreception coupling in a particularly easy manner.

An embodiment of the invention will now be explained in greater detailhereinbelow with reference to the accompanying diagrams, in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of a rapid-action reception coupling for aconnection nipple with an attachment profile, whereby the rapid-actionreception coupling is shown in the longitudinal half section and in theposition before being attached;

FIG. 2 shows the rapid-action reception coupling according to FIG. 1,but in the closed position on the connection nipple;

FIG. 3 is a modified embodiment similar to FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is the modified embodiment according to FIG. 3, but in theattached position;

FIG. 5 is a further modified embodiment similar to FIG. 1 in theattached position, and

FIG. 6 shows the further modified embodiment according to FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 illustrates a preferred embodiment of an actuation device 1 on arapid-action reception coupling 10 prior to being attached to aconnection nipple 30 (cf. FIG. 2).

Rapid-action reception coupling 10 has a tubular housing 11 orinterconnected housing parts, whereby the right front side serves asinlet 12 and the left front side serves as outlet 13 for conveying thefluid to be transferred to connection nipple 30. Inlet 12 to housing 11has a connection adapter 14 which can be attached to a hose or a pipefor conveying the fluid to be transferred. In this instance connectionadapter 14 can be shaped to adapt to the fluid to be transferred, inparticular to the respectively desired delivery angle, throughcross-sections and the like.

Provided as locking elements on the front side lying opposite connectionadapter 14, here outlet 13, are several oblong collet chucks 15 disposedin pipe form, which are spread radially outwards in the positionillustrated here shortly before being slid onto connection nipple 30, asis illustrated by way of example in the abovementioned WO A 93/20378.

Oblong collet chucks IS, of which at least one, and generally three orsix collet chucks, are arranged around housing 11, are hooked by, inthis case, their right end on an annular groove 11 a of housing 11 andat the same time prestressed by an annular spring 16, so that colletchucks 15 are spread radially outwards. This is supported by a radialenlargement 23 or a separate ring 23′ (of FIG. 3). At, in this case,their left end on the inward angled surface collet chucks 15 exhibitpositive-fitting engagement profiles 17 each configured corresponding toattachment profile 31 (cf. FIG. 2) of connection nipple 30.

Enclosing collet chucks 16 is an external sliding sleeve 18 which isguided on the cylindrical outer mantle of housing 11 and can be pushedwith actuation device 1 axially in the direction of connection nipple30, as is described hereinbelow. In this case sliding sleeve 18 exhibitsan extension 20, loosely accommodating a locking ball 19. Arranged onits circumference is a locking ring 21 which presses locking ball 19into a groove on housing 11 in the attached position (FIG. 2) andthereby enables the axial displacement of sliding sleeve 18, by means ofwhich collet chucks 15 are stopped by the wrap-around by means ofsliding sleeve 18 in the attached position.

Guided on the inner surface of housing 11 facing outlet 13 is a sealingpiston 22 impacted by a spring 21, which lies with its front side on aconically designed sealing surface of connection nipple 30. Sealingpiston 22 is sealed relative to collet chucks 15 by means of a sealingring 24 set on the front end of housing 11, so that the gas-liquidand/or liquid—liquid flowing substantially along the central axis ofrapid-action reception coupling 10 cannot escape outwards.

Also of significance here is an outlet valve 25 mounted centrally inhousing 11, which seals off a sealing surface 27 by means of a sealingring 26 on housing 11 in the closed position.

Outlet valve 25 is now impacted by a compression spring 28 which isguided by means of a centering stop 29 attached to housing 11. Thisoutlet valve 25 ensures that in the uncoupled position illustrated here,or up to just before rapid-action reception coupling 10 is attached toconnection nipple 30, the fluid conveyed by connection adapter 14 cannotescape when the connection stop-cock or the refuelling plant is open.

Outlet valve 25 is impacted by sealing piston 22 when rapid-actionreception coupling 10 is slid onto connection nipple 30, whereby thelatter is pressed in axially during attachment, in the process openingoutlet valve 25.

This causes an inlet valve 35 of rapid-action reception coupling 10 tobe closed which is then opened in the ensuing coupling procedure byactuation device 1 or a associated slide 41.

Of particular significance here is a sliding ring 40 guided on the outercircumference of housing 11, which is screwed to locking ring 21 is andimpacts slide 41 by a lever mechanism 42. Slide 41 is hereby guided inhousing 11, more precisely centering insert 29 attached thereto, and isimpacted by a compression spring 43. As is evident from theillustration, the side of sliding ring 40 facing outlet 13 is screwed tolocking ring 21, by means of which it can be moved out of the openposition (FIG. 1) into the attached or locked position (FIG. 2). Slidingring 40 is pushed manually by a hand grip 50 (here to the left), so thatlever mechanism 42 is pushed into the stretched position, by means ofwhich at the same time a stop 44 of sliding ring 40 on locking ring 21is achieved. Based on stop 44 a stepped carrier profile 45 is providedinside sliding ring 40 for lever mechanism 42, which controls themovement of both these components to one another.

Lever mechanism 42 here comprises a centrally arranged roller 46 and twolevers 47 whose ends are fastened by bolts 48 at one point to housing 11or to centering stop 29 attached thereto and elsewhere to slide 41. Whensliding ring 40 is displaced by hand grip 50 roller 46 is moved alongcarrier profile 45, so that levers 47 are stretched.

Slide 41 is hereby pressed against inlet valve 35, so that the latter ismoved into the open position. At the same time slide 41 is impacted by acompression spring, such that roller 46 rests on carrier profile 45 onthe inner surface of sliding ring 40. In a preferred manner slide 41 isprovided not only for controlled opening of inlet valves 35, but alsofor actuating a ventilation valve 60. This leads by way of a borehole 61arranged in housing 11 to a ventilation connection 62, so that gas orliquid remaining in the attachment coupling can be recycled. Thisventilation valve 60 likewise actuated by slide 41 also facilitatesuncoupling, since a defined drop in pressure can occur here. Withrespect to carrier profile 45, on which knee-actuated lever mechanism 42rests with roller 46, it is pointed out that the form, shown steppedhere, can also be realised by a continuous transition, in order torealise the power transmission essential in this case. In the processlevers 47 could also be mounted on sliding ring 40, while roller 46 canroll away on the housing side, on insert 29 or also on slide 41, forexample.

The particular advantage of the form of carrier profile 45, here shownstepped, is that considerable power transmission is achieved by theinitially minimal incline when roller 46 is rolled away on the innersurface of sliding ring 40 as it is displaced, so that slide 41 attachedthereto can apply very high valve-opening forces, for example to inletvalve 35 and ventilation valve 60.

This translation is also supported by the lever length of levers 47 oflever mechanism 42. It is pointed out here that such a lever mechanism42 can be arranged symmetrically in the lower region inside sliding ring40, and also in a multiplex arrangement, if required.

FIG. 2 illustrates the attached position of rapid-action receptioncoupling 10. As is evident, when rapid-action reception coupling 10 isslid onto connection nipple 30 sealing piston 22 is pushed to the right,whereby at the same time sliding ring 40 provided on the outercircumference is pushed with hand grip 50 to the left. After a shortdistance of a few millimeters the inner surfaces of collet chucks 15resting on conical outer surface 23 of sealing piston 22 become free oftheir locked position, so that they can snap inwards, and engagementprofile 17 engages in correspondingly configured attachment profile 31of connection nipple 30. Sliding sleeve 18 and its locking ball 19 arefreed practically simultaneously for the axial movement to the left,since sliding sleeve 18 is also impacted by actuation device 1 by meansof sliding ring 40 and locking ring 21.

As sliding sleeve 18 moves axially it engages over the radial outer endsof collet chucks 15, so that these can be held positively in theirengaged position on connection nipple 30.

To disengage rapid-action reception coupling 10 and thus to return theattached position shown in FIG. 2 to the open position according to FIG.1, sliding ring 40 is retracted somewhat with profiled hand grip 50 byhand. After locking ring 21 has travelled a short way (to the right)locking ball 19 is then released (outwards), whereupon sliding sleeve 18is retracted at the same time. In this way collet chucks 15 can againspread radially outwards, whereby slide 41 is pushed by lever mechanism42 to the left towards outlet end 13 at the same time. On account ofcurved carrier profile 45 this lifting movement of sliding ring 40 andthus of slide 41 can be used to precisely control inlet valve 35. Beforethe sealing contact between sealing piston 22 and sealing surface ofconnection nipple 30 is loosened, outlet valve 25 is securely closed.This almost simultaneous sequence constitutes very rapid closing ofinlet or outlet valves 35 and 25, so that no amount of fluid can escape.

The sliding ring 40, together with lever mechanism 42, additionallyallows rapid-action reception coupling 10 to be slid securely ontoconnection nipple 30, whereby collet chucks 15 are closed when thesealing contact is secured, since the open position of collet chucks 15is maintained sufficiently long for the open position of collet chucks15 to be disengaged by the axial displacement of sealing piston 22 andof sliding ring 40 in direct sequence to create the attachment.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate a simplified embodiment, wherein correspondingcomponents are designated with the same reference numeral, as in FIGS. 1and 2. Actuation device 1 here has the same function as described inFIGS. 1 and 2. Compared to the embodiment in FIGS. 1 and 2, there are noinlet valves or ventilation valves provided here, as rapid-actionreception coupling illustrated should be particularly suited to propanegas filling. However, the here essential lever mechanism 42 has the samestructure, whereby slide 41 actuated thereby is here attached to frontsealing piston 22. In FIG. 3 sealing piston 22 thus forms a closedvalve, whereas the sealing piston in FIG. 4 unblocks the passage of gasto the right through the axial movement of slide 41, and thus serves asoutlet valve. Attached in addition to connection adapter 14 is a hoseline which is enclosed by a kink-free sheath. This sheath is extensivelyenclosed in the non-attached position by hand grip 50 which is pushedtowards connection nipple 30 for attaching, whereby lever mechanism 42is brought to the stretched form, apart from the above described releaseof sliding sleeve 18 (without extension 20), here designed monobloc.

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate a further embodiment, whereby correspondingcomponents are designated with the same reference numerals as in FIGS. 1and 2. Actuation device 1 here has the same function as described inFIGS. 1 and 2. By comparison to the embodiment in FIGS. 1 and 2 howeverlevers 47 of lever mechanism 42 are bent at right angles with anotherwise identical structure. This effectively shortens the structurallength and further improves the transmission ratio.

1. An actuation device for a rapid-action reception coupling forattachment to a connection nipple, the device comprising: a tubularhousing; a slide mounted so as to be displaceable relative the housing;a sliding ring mounted so as to be displaceable relative the housing; alever mechanism positioned in the sliding ring and attached to thehousing, wherein the lever mechanism comprises: two levers ofapproximately equal length hingedly connected; and a roller positionedapproximately at the connection of the two levers.
 2. The device ofclaim 1, further comprising a common compression spring acting on thelever mechanism and the slide.
 3. The device of claim 1, wherein thesliding ring comprises a stepped carrier profile on an inner surface ofthe sliding ring.
 4. The device of claim 3, wherein the carrier profiledefines a stop.
 5. The device of claim 1, wherein the housing has arecessed surface and wherein the sliding ring is guided on the recessedsurface of the housing.
 6. The device of claim 1, further comprising atleast one of an outlet valve, an inlet valve, and a relief valve whereinthe at least one of an outlet valve, an inlet valve, and a relief valveis actuated by the slide and arranged centrally in the housing.
 7. Thedevice of claim 1, further comprising a locking ring attaching thesliding ring.
 8. The device of claim 7, wherein the locking ring isthreaded.
 9. The device of claim 1, further comprising a locking elementwherein the sliding ring can be checked by the locking element in atleast one end position relative to the housing.
 10. The device of claim9, wherein the locking element comprises a ball.
 11. The device of claim1, further comprising bolts and a centering insert, the centering insertbeing arranged in the housing wherein the lever mechanism is configuredas a toggle joint-attached at a first end to the centering insert withthe bolts and on the opposite end to the slide.
 12. The device of claim11, further comprising a second lever mechanism wherein the levermechanisms are arranged mirroring the main axis of the centering insert.13. The device of claim 11, further comprising a carrier profilearranged on a peripheral surface of the centering insert.
 14. The deviceof claim 1, further comprising a hand grip wherein the sliding ring isattached to the hand grip or the slide.
 15. The device of claim 3,wherein the carrier profile exhibits a flatter elevation at a first endso as to induce an increased transmission of force.
 16. A fluid linecoupler for fixed attachment to a fluid line and removable attachment toa connection nipple, the coupler comprising: a tubular housing: a slidemember coaxially arranged in the housing such that the slide member isdisplaceable along the common axis between a first sealed position and asecond removable position; at least one collet member having anattachment surface matching the contour of the connection nipple whereinthe first sealed position places the at least one collet member incontact with the connection nipple and the second removable positiondistances the at least one collet member from the connection nipple andwherein the at least one collet member is biased to the second removableposition; a toggle mechanism attached to the housing and the slidemember; a slide actuator having a cam surface, the slide actuator beingcoaxially mounted on the housing so as to be displaceable along thecommon axis such that displacement of the slide actuator along thecommon axis brings or removes the cam surface into contact with thetoggle mechanism so as to induce the slide member to move between thefirst sealed and the second removable positions; and at least one valvepositioned within the housing such that the valve directs fluidcontained within the coupler during movement between the first sealedand second removable positions so as to inhibit escape of the fluid fromthe coupler.
 17. A fluid line coupler for fixed attachment to a fluidline and removable attachment to a connection nipple, the couplercomprising: a tubular housing: a slide member coaxially arranged in thehousing such that the slide member is displaceable along the common axisbetween a first sealed position and a second removable position; atleast one collet member having an attachment surface matching thecontour of the connection nipple wherein the first sealed positionplaces the at least one collet member in contact with the connectionnipple and the second removable position distances the at least onecollet member from the connection nipple and wherein the at least onecollet member is biased to the second removable position; a togglemechanism attached to the housing and the slide member; and a slideactuator having a cam surface, the slide actuator being coaxiallymounted on the housing so as to be displaceable along the common axissuch that displacement of the slide actuator along the common axisbrings or removes the cam surface into contact with the toggle mechanismso as to induce the slide member to move between the first sealed andthe second removable positions.
 18. An actuation device for arapid-action reception coupling for attachment to a connection nipple,the device comprising: a tubular housing; a slide mounted so as to bedisplaceable relative the housing; a sliding ring mounted so as to bedisplaceable relative the housing; a lever mechanism positioned in thesliding ring and attached to the housing; and at least one of: an outletvalve, an inlet valve, and a relief valve wherein the at least one of anoutlet valve, an inlet valve, and a relief valve is actuated by theslide and arranged centrally in the housing.